Blogging, Writing, and Publishing

Recently a friend shared her dream to get into “publishing”. I listened intently as she described her desire to write articles and becoming a published author. I’ve read her work in some of our locally published magazines and have no doubt that she would make a great writer. I also recognized that she was where I found myself a few years back; full of ideas, but nowhere to publish them. The first inclination is to do what many budding authors have done; purchase a copy of the bestselling writer’s reference book. The book is a great place to develop ideas and sell articles. It also provides a good service with great details on which publisher is purchasing which articles and for how much. However, the reference cannot guarantee that you will have the platform to actually sell an article. After a few years of buying these books, I recognized the growing trend of many magazines not taking on new authors and paying less than ever before if they did buy an article. Why? Because of the cha...

While Army leaders traditionally exert influence within their unit and its established chain of command, multiskilled leaders must also be capable of extending influence to others beyond the chain of command. Extending influence is the second leader competency. In today’s politically and culturally charged operational environments, even direct leaders may work closely with joint, interagency, and multinational forces, the media, local civilians, political leaders, police forces, and nongovernmental agencies. Extending influence requires special awareness about the differences in how influence works. Jeffrey W. Bennett, ISP is the owner of Red Bike Publishing . Jeff is an accomplished writer of non-fiction books, novels and periodicals. He also owns Red bike Publishing. Published books include: "Get Rich in a Niche-Insider's Guide to Self Publishing in a Specialized Industry" and "Commitment-A Novel". Jeff is an expert in security and has written many secu...

An entrepreneur in a small niche market can provide solutions with little cost. Because you have the right skills, you can do so much with little cost and risk. Here's what you need when writing a book, publishing either yourself or through other non-traditional alternatives is a real possibility. 1. A great book idea that needs to be developed 2. An identified customer base 3.  Method to inform and provide your target market with valuable resources 4. Ability to balance career, family and other commitments. Now you have a burning desire to fulfill this dream on top of everything else? Well, it’s definitely possible. As a professional, you have a code of ethics to live under. What you do will often affect your reputation. So, how can you possible market to the people that you might already have a business relationship paid for by your current boss? Get buy-in from your full time job. Ensure that your employer has no problem. It ...

There are already a few strikes against paying to advertise your book through an email campaign to libraries and bookstores. The first is that books are distributed through a process that self-published and print on demands are excluded from. Librarians and bookstores receive a book’s information from the Library of Congress and distributors. If your book is not in the CIP process as described in Get Rich in a Niche , chances are great that it will not be picked up by librarians and traditional books stores. Others take advantage of your hopes and dreams by claiming to have connections and inroads with major buyers. In fact, they collect your money, add your book information to a database with several hundred others and email it to their points of contact. The points of contact may not even be a result of a personal relationship, but simply a collection of email addresses. You then are tied to the hope that somehow the recipient of t...

You may remember an earlier post describing why and how you might create a Facebook page for each of your books or products. Using my publishing company as an example,   I created a page for my company, each of my books and a group that hosts a professional certification. Did you know that you can log into your individual pages and use make comments and “like” other comments as that entity? Here’s an example: I have a Facebook Page called 80s Movie Reviews . To generate interest with other people who enjoy the 80’s genre, I searched Facebook with the keywords: “80’s, 80s, 80s music”, and etc.   Once I find those pages I make comments on their wall and “like” them using my 80’s Movie Reviews profile. Here’s how you do it. Select your page. On the right hand column toward the top is “Use Facebook as _”Your pages name”__ page”. Once you make the selection, any comments, shares, likes and etc will be attributed to your page and not your regular profile. Instead of people seeing “J...

     The sun painted streaks of pale blue and yellow through the morning sky. Birds were awake, singing to anyone appreciative enough to listen. The moon was full and bright as it still sat high in the western sky.      John listened intently. He was used to the sounds of the jungle, something he would actually miss. Gone were the distractions of machines. However, he prayed that they would soon be getting back to the plane that would take them back to their world–civilization.      Suddenly he was aware of something new–silence. The singing had abruptly stopped, but why? Birds go silent as a survival instinct, he thought. He listened more intently, as the ground would be soft, muffling any footsteps.      There! In the brush – a slight movement. He focused his eyes to one side of the dark, heavily vegetated area hoping to catch something in his peripherals. Behind about fifty yards, vines and branches moved...

Leadership, the most essential element of combat power, gives purpose, direction, and motivation in combat. The leader balances and maximizes maneuver, firepower, and protection against the enemy. This chapter discusses how he does this by exploring the principles of leadership (BE, KNOW, DO); the duties, responsibilities, and actions of an effective leader; and the leader's assumption of command. 1-1. PRINCIPLES. The principles of leadership are BE, KNOW, and DO. PRINCIPLES. The principles of leadership are BE, KNOW, and DO. BE • Technically and tactically proficientTechnically and tactically proficient • Able to accomplish to standard all tasks required for the wartime mission.Able to accomplish to standard all tasks required for the wartime mission. • Courageous, committed, and candid.Courageous, committed, and candid. • A leader with integrity.A leader with integrity. KNOW • The four major factors of leadership and how they affect each other are-- ---Led -...

Is your indie publishing company positioned for success? These 5 takeaways can help your company, products and books before a broader market. Building a strong presence and leveraging your friends, shareholders and other parties interested in your posts to broadcast your writings can create huge momentum. For example, suppose you have a blog that provides information about your publishing company or a niche book. You blog an article about your latest book. It feeds to your Facebook page and your friends "Like" it or provide comments. Soon others might become interested and your audience increases. However, if you are in a nice industry, only a certain audience will actually benefit from your posts. This is the audience that you educate and provide great books to. They join your LinkedIn groups, Facebook pages and follow your tweets. You've got a good thing going, your audience is faithful, continue to buy your books and comment on your posts. But what if you write ano...

How to create a book trailer video I’ve seen some great video ideas and am recently joining the many who post videos about their books or companies. So far, I’ve really enjoyed the fun and adventurous videos I’ve created that feature an idea and not books. These videos include Zombie vs. Ranger and How Not to Get a consulting Job. These videos are meant to be fun and entertaining and don’t even mention my products until the end. However, I still can’t discount the effectiveness of a good old fashioned (well recent fashion anyway) video featuring a specific product or book. Great graphics and the right type of music can combine to create a compelling reason for a viewer to take action. This action could include buying a product, visiting a website or signing up for a newsletter. Whatever call to action you want from your video, make sure to make the video worthy of watching. Here are five great tips for making a video trailer: 1. Invest in video software. There is great software that t...

Maybe you think you are alone, fighting the one person fight that many leaders face. However, you would be wrong to assume that just because you are the only employee of your indie publishing company and the only author that you have to take on so much alone. There may be a way to solicit help without having to pay a salary. So how does the business owner create a teaming environment or create a program where no one works there? Through High Power Teams High power teams (HPT) are the most effective types of entities. Where groups form, storm and norm, HPTs go further to create a body more capable than any individual. They do this by agreeing to rules and primarily keeping in mind that throughout any process or problem, it’s not about the individual, it’s about the group. This allows the organization to benefit as a whole as each member sacrifices their individual desires. The members do not lose or give up the individuality that makes them unique. It does not stifle individual creativ...

As a niche expert, you may find traditional methods of marketing do not provide the exposure you need. Sure, you might be a big name in your organization, hobby, profession or club, but the level of specialization will determine the type of advertising and marketing necessary to reach your audience. For example, your niche may only have 2000 potential customers nationwide. If you can reach the 2000 and sell your products, then you'll have a potential career. Though 2000 readers may seem small to a traditional publisher or marketing company, it is a treasure to an indie organization who can meet the needs of customers. Forget taking out ads in papers, spots on radios, or paid space online; unless they are guaranteed to reach only your audience. Many cannot do that as often marketing lines are blurred. It's easy to target model builders. If you provide books with general security appeal, you might be able to place advertisement almost anywhere to meet a demand for home or veh...